‘If at first you don’t succeed... Taille, Taille again!’ Our Vignerons may not have this problem (they know exactly where to make the right cut for the health of the vine and its unborn grapes) but they are certainly persistent, unwaveringly careful, and work very hard each year to prune our precious plants perfectly. Each vine must be trimmed in a unique way, according to its size and shape. Here, the highly skilled secateurs of Denis. 📷 by @garylafittephotography
#meetthemakers#makingofourwines#vineyard#chateaulafiterothschild

Buckets o’ bottles + this desert sunset 😍 Still remising on this picturesque and wine-filled weekend in the Sonoran Desert at the base of Superstition Mountain, just outside of Scottsdale. Not pictured: the Argentinian Malbec I sipped all night long!

Today I visited a couple of vineyards in mostly McLaren Vale but also Penfolds Magill Estate. I was met by heaps of interesting and kind people who didn’t mind to chat a bit with a ‘lonely’ traveler. Except the splendid people I met there where also a lot of marvelous wine. My problem thou is that I have a weightlimit since I am flying so I needed to restrain myself to only these bottles from Penfold, Coriole, d’Arenberg, Alpha Box & Dice, and Wirra Wirra. If the person that educated me when I visited d’Arenberg should read this; go travel to Germany (and Europe) so you get to use the German that you have been taught and you get to see the nature over there. #mclarenvale#vineyard#vineyards#penfolds#coriole#darenberg#darenbergcube#alphaboxanddice#wirrawirrawinery#australia

Did you know they have vineyards in Belgium? One of them happens to be just 20km from my home in the hilly Hageland region. It was quite a steep and muddy climb, but the view was well worth the effort.
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For all you connaisseurs out there, the grapes planted here are of the Müller-Thurgau variety, and are used to produce a very nice local sparkling wine.
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#cyclocross#t1d#type1active#type1diabetes#typeonediabetes#cyclinglife#vineyard#bubbles

New Blog Post: A Closer Glimpse at Our Farm Trail
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Back in the fall, we announced our inaugural farm trail at Jester King. The half-mile trail is open to the public and starts next to our new restaurant. It passes through our farm, vineyard, goats and nascent hop yard.
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These photos and words provide a closer glimpse, which we hope you'll experience for yourself. Our farm trail is open during our regular operating hours Thursday to Sunday. Cheers!
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After beginning near our restaurant, the trail winds through the outdoor seating area next to our brewery.
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The first stop on the trail is our vineyard, which was planted in early 2018. We planted about 1,700 grape vines, which we hope to use for beer making and wine making in the future.
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Along the vineyard runs our inaugural berm, which prevents water runoff and should lead to dry farming in the future.
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The next stop is goats! We're slowly building our herd to open a dairy sometime in the coming years. Our goats are also a great source of fertilizer for our farm as they free range during the day. We offer farm tours at 2pm and 4pm on Saturdays, which gives visitors a chance to pet and hold our goats.
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The final stop on our farm trail is our nascent hop yard. If the experiment goes well, we'll be able to make at least some beer that's 100% Texas ingredients. We currently source our hops from out of state. As the sign says, prayers are welcome!
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Again, we hope you come enjoy our inaugural farm trail! We think it adds a nice way to enjoy time with friends and family at Jester King. We hope to add to it over the years to traverse our entire 165 acre ranch.
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#jesterking#farmtrail#vineyard#berm#hopyard#goats#timeplacepeople